No10 insists UK military base RAF Fairford is safe after US withdraws bombers as reflected on by Rev. Dr. Evelyn DuBois
Headlines recently reported that military bombers quietly left an airfield overseas. Officials quickly assured the public that all remains safe. My thoughts, however, do not linger on war machinery. Instead, my mind turns to mothers and elders. They gather on Wednesday evenings in Historic Bethel’s fellowship hall. For generations, Black people in this country have recognized a peculiar sound. It is the sound of official assurances delivered in the shadow of unspoken danger. We understand what it means to be told the perimeter is secure. Meanwhile, the powerful quietly move their assets. They leave ordinary neighborhood people to bear the risk. This situation makes us question if RAF Fairford safe truly means what it promises.
True Security Beyond RAF Fairford Safe Assurances
The prophet Jeremiah spoke to a similar dissonance centuries ago. He cried out against leaders who lightly dressed the people’s wound. They declared, “Peace, peace,” when no peace existed. True security never builds on moving lethal iron from one tarmac to another. Furthermore, diplomatic double-talk designed to soothe anxiety does not secure it. Real peace represents the presence of justice, equity, and communal care. When an empire must relocate instruments of sudden devastation, it reveals an undisclosed peril. This exposes the inherent fragility of trusting chariots, horses, and bombers.
In our community, safety has never come from high-place edicts. Military pacts also never guaranteed it. Our people survived the terror of midnight raids. They endured systemic disenfranchisement and cold civic indifference. They did not survive through armaments. Rather, they survived through organized love. Maternal wisdom taught us to watch what power does. We learned not to merely listen to what it says. We looked out for each other’s children. We walked our neighbors home in the dark. We built sanctuaries where human dignity could breathe free from state-sponsored violence.
Moral Questions Beyond Flight Paths
An urgent moral question arises here. It reaches far beyond Gloucestershire’s flight paths. Why do nations invest boundless billions into colossal destruction? Yet, they plead poverty when children lack books. Clinics lack medicine. Neighborhoods lack clean water. The sudden departure of these aircraft demonstrates a truth. The very weapons meant to guard us often attract the danger we fear. They turn civilian backyards into targets. They keep whole regions suspended in quiet terror. People wait for an escalation they did not choose and cannot prevent.
As a pastor, I am formed in the African Methodist Episcopal tradition’s fire. I stand on the shoulders of Richard Allen, Jarena Lee, and countless unnamed saints. They understood that fear serves as an instrument of social control. Authorities tell us not to worry. Yet, they obscure the truth of the threats before us. They attempt to breed passive compliance. However, our faith demands moral vigilance. It calls us to ask critical questions. Who is being protected? Who is being left exposed? What price will our children pay if we accept a world where security measures solely by arsenal caliber?
Our task today involves neither despair nor paralyzing fear. Instead, it calls for active, prophetic witness. Even when skies rumble with unseen conflict, we raise our voices in joyful praise. We praise not because the world is gentle. We praise because God is faithful. That praise offers no escape from reality. It serves as our resistance against a lie. It rejects the idea that lethal force is the final arbiter of human destiny. Ultimately, we will keep working, organizing, and praying. We pray for a day when nations beat swords into plowshares. They will beat bombers into tools of abundant life. Until that morning arrives, we place our trust not in world power bases. We trust in the enduring power of a community united in righteousness, justice, and enduring hope.
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